Anybody have an ebike with a pinion gearbox and gates belt?

[Cyklefanatic]

I am interested in building a pinion gearbox ebike for commuting and touring. It looks like a reliable low maintenance setup for high milage use. If you’ve done It I would like to hear about your experience and advice about building a bike.

 

[Citycrosser]

I've thought about purchasing a Priority 600 (https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/the600) and electrifying it with a front or rear hub motor. It would be a super low maintenance bike. I would probably rather just buy a Watts Wagon though as it's pretty darn close and should be just as low maintenance.

 

[antboy]

I've thought about purchasing a Priority 600 (https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/the600) and electrifying it with a front or rear hub motor. It would be a super low maintenance bike. I would probably rather just buy a Watts Wagon though as it's pretty darn close and should be just as low maintenance.

I really like the idea, but all I've seen before is a Stromer concept bike (don't recall if it has a model name), and the Klever X Speed Pinion, but that comes in at 7,200 Euros, or over $10,000 Cdn.

Speed pedelecs - Klever Mobility

Klever speed pedelecs zijn er in 3 verschillende modellen, varierend van een sportieve- een actieve- of een sportieve fietshouding.

www.klever-mobility.com

I really like that Priority bike, and can see it being a fun conversion to try out, and at half the price, I don't mind the sweat equity.

 

[Petropoliskhan]

I am interested in building a pinion gearbox ebike for commuting and touring. It looks like a reliable low maintenance setup for high milage use. If you’ve done It I would like to hear about your experience and advice about building a bike.

Hi Cyklefanatic,
I am probably going to buy this MTB Cycletech Code 45 in the coming months. I agree with you that this is more than likely a very low maintenance setup albeit expensive.
Your welding chops better be very good as the Pinion gearbox requires a custom frame as shown in the pictures below. ( there's no way I could even entertain doing something like that by myself)


I don't know if there are Pinion ready frames that can be bought without the integrated battery compartment ( which is probably proprietary and not for sale).
This bike and the Klever- mobility X-speed Pinion are European models. I don't know if they're available Stateside.
Looking forward to seeing your build

 

[Deacon Blues]

I love that MTB Cycletech ebike, but I doubt we'll ever see that bike in Canada, and if we did I'm sure it would be very expensive. I'd rather buy a standard pinion gearbox bike and do an e-bike conversion.
I've found a perfect rear hub motor from Grin, in Vancouver B.C. Now all I need is the bike.

 

[Cyklefanatic]

Hi Cyklefanatic,
I am probably going to buy this MTB Cycletech Code 45 in the coming months. I agree with you that this is more than likely a very low maintenance setup albeit expensive.
Your welding chops better be very good as the Pinion gearbox requires a custom frame as shown in the pictures below. ( there's no way I could even entertain doing something like that by myself)
View attachment 46346View attachment 46347View attachment 46348View attachment 46349

I don't know if there are Pinion ready frames that can be bought without the integrated battery compartment ( which is probably proprietary and not for sale).
This bike and the Klever- mobility X-speed Pinion are European models. I don't know if they're available Stateside.
Looking forward to seeing your build

That’s a beautiful looking bike. Too bad they don’t sell to North America.

 

[onlineaddy]

I would love the Code 45 in a low step, lady or not. Its color is sweet too! Please bring it to North America.

MTB CYCLETECH

MTB Cycletech - unabhängige Velomanufaktur seit 1984. Perfektion, Qualität und zeitloses Design sind die Leitplanken, Innovation und Pionierleistungen das Resultat.

mtbcycletech.com

 

[Petropoliskhan]

I would love the Code 45 in a low step, lady or not. Its color is sweet too! Please bring it to North America.

MTB CYCLETECH

MTB Cycletech - unabhängige Velomanufaktur seit 1984. Perfektion, Qualität und zeitloses Design sind die Leitplanken, Innovation und Pionierleistungen das Resultat.

mtbcycletech.com

Hey onelineaddy you're right those color options are sweet

 

[Cyklefanatic]

Found this French brand Kervelo that makes a combined motor gearbox. Very clean looking and compact.

https://www.kervelo.com/download/1658/

This has to be the future to simplify the drivetrain and make it more reliable with less maintenance.

 

[Johnny]

I love that MTB Cycletech ebike, but I doubt we'll ever see that bike in Canada, and if we did I'm sure it would be very expensive. I'd rather buy a standard pinion gearbox bike and do an e-bike conversion.
I've found a perfect rear hub motor from Grin, in Vancouver B.C. Now all I need is the bike.

Does the motor have a torque sensor?

 

[Deacon Blues]

Does the motor have a torque sensor?

No torque sensor, as far as I know, but I would forgo a torque sensor for a setup like this. Pinion drive with a 1500 watt Grin hub motor and Grin Phaserunner controller would be a sweet combo.

 

[steve marino]

While I admire the engineering, people have been trying to improve on the chain/sprocket/derailleur idea for well over 100 years and nada yet. An eBike w/ a sealed hub motor is about as low maintenance as you can get anyway. Just ck the tire pressures, tighten the fasteners periodically, and lube the chain. I'm nearly positive that a chain and sprocket is the most efficient way to get power to the wheel in terms of energy loss. Honestly, as I mentioned on another post, why have gearing on the motor anyway? These geared hub motors have all the torque I would ever need, and I can always drop the bike into a lower gear on the rear cassette if I encounter a big hill.

 

[Ebiker33]

Check this guy out
HOPLIT EMTB

Seems like a pretty good Ebike

 

[Cyklefanatic]

While I admire the engineering, people have been trying to improve on the chain/sprocket/derailleur idea for well over 100 years and nada yet. An eBike w/ a sealed hub motor is about as low maintenance as you can get anyway. Just ck the tire pressures, tighten the fasteners periodically, and lube the chain. I'm nearly positive that a chain and sprocket is the most efficient way to get power to the wheel in terms of energy loss. Honestly, as I mentioned on another post, why have gearing on the motor anyway? These geared hub motors have all the torque I would ever need, and I can always drop the bike into a lower gear on the rear cassette if I encounter a big hill.

Once you ride a bike with a gates belt it’s hard to go back to a dirty chain. A small effiecency loss for a cleaner more reliable drive train is no problem because of the additional power offered up by the motor. Modern bikes are so careful about weight that it drives up the cost to save a gram or two. A small motorcycle is cheaper than a nice road bike because of the weight issue. An ebike lives somewhere between a bike and motorcycle (SurRon) so the technology has to develop to capitalize on the requirements for a heavier faster bike that carries a motor and is more likely to be ridden more miles by people who don’t want to do a lot of maintenance.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Check this guy out
HOPLIT EMTB

Seems like a pretty good Ebike

Beautiful ebike, but at around $9500 (Can) before shipping that's more than I'd want to spend.